Maria Recommends
How to Achieve and Maintain Personal Growth and Success
Recommended Websites
Stephen Gilligan – I’ve studied with Stephen Gilligan. His work, known as Self-relations Psychotherapy, reconnects mind-body processes and encourages and supports radical change.
Health Journeys – Find guided imagery and meditation tapes, CDs, books and software—holistic health tools that teach healing and wellness practices.
Lundy Bancroft – Lundy Bancroft is an author, workshop leader, and activist on trauma, abuse, and healing. Lundy’s articles regarding trauma and abuse, healing, and social change are available on this website.
Wellesley – This website has information on the Relational-Cultural Model of development which focuses on growth-fostering relationships as the central human necessity and disconnections as the source of psychological problems.
NLP Oregon – I’ve trained extensively with Lindagail Campbell of Oregon’s NLP Training Center. These trainings are available here in Southern Oregon. Learn how NLP can improve your quality of life.
NLPU – NLP University is dedicated to presenting the best possible NLP seminars to the international NLP community.
Bruce Lipton – Research scientist Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., introduces a long-awaited paradigm shift in the biomedical sciences. The new science will inspire your spirit, engage your mind and challenge your creativity.
Ashland Hypnotherapy – Ashland School of Hypnotherapy provides professional and personal development through innovative, in-depth training in hypnotherapy.
Gene Burnett – I’ve enjoyed T’ai-Chi classes with Gene Burnett as a way to increase self-awareness and relaxation. Learn more about the classes he holds in Ashland, Oregon.
Internet Writing Pro – Jennifer Odear specializes in marketing and copywriting services for therapists, coaches and consultants. Check out her website for simple marketing solutions.
Recommended Self-Help Books & Audio
Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation
Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.
This groundbreaking book, from one of the global innovators in the integration of brain science with psychotherapy, offers an extraordinary guide to the practice of “mindsight,” the potent skill that is the basis for both emotional and social intelligence.
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts
Gary Chapman
Unhappiness in marriage often has a simple root cause: we speak different love languages, believes Dr. Gary Chapman. While working as a marriage counselor for more than 30 years, he identified five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do And How To Change It
Charles Duhigg
People succeed when they identify patterns that shape their lives – and learn how to change them. This idea – that you can indeed change your habits – draws on recent research in experimental psychology, neurology, and applied psychology.
The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders
John E. Sarno, M.D.
Dr. Sarno digs deep to understand the pain of psychosomatic (mind/body) disorders. To have knowledge of these types of disorders is the beginning of healing.
The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles
Bruce H. Lipton, PhD
A look at the new science of Epigenetics that will change what you know about the mind body connection. It’s humorous and contains excellent examples.
The Wisdom of Your Cells: How Your Beliefs Control Your Biology
Bruce H. Lipton, PhD
A profound look at the human cell in layman’s terms. A new way to look at life, cellular biology, and evolution.
Mind Coach: How to Teach Children & Teenagers to Think Positive & Feel Good
Daniel G. Amen, MD
A brilliant manual to aid your children in developing the skills they need to use their mind for success.
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD
If you have ever been afraid to try meditation, this is a must read. It highlights the physical and emotion benefits of meditation in a simple way that proves to be extremely healing.
The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness
Mark G. Williams, John D. Teasdale, Zindel V. Segal & Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindful meditation techniques are used to prevent and treat depression. This is a valuable book if you would like to learn more about self-therapy.”
Neuro-Linguistic Programming for Dummies
Romilla Ready & Kate Burton
This book is a must-have for anyone interesting in NLP. It has a simple and direct approach that makes it easy to read.
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD
A book for everyone interested in mindfulness – a form of meditation practiced by those who want to achieve a personal transformation of mind and body.
Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal
Belleruth Naparstek
A fascinating look at using guided imagery to heal post-traumatic stress disorder. This method is reasonable, gentle, and very effective.
The Courage to Love: Principles and Practices of Self-Relations Psychotherapy
Stephen Gilligan
When differences arise, learn how you can cultivate the courage and freedom to love. After all, love is the skill and force that heals and invigorates, reconnects and guides, calms and encourages.
Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting
Myla Kabat-Zinn, Jon Kabat-Zinn
Discover how you can become a more aware and mindful parent by taking a look at Dr. Kabat-Zinn’s Zen Buddhist parenting approach.
Warming the Stone Child (Book or Audio)
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.
A real look at the pain abandonment can cause and how to begin the process of healing.
Walking In Two Worlds: The Relational Self In Theory, Practice, And Community
Stephen Gilligan and Dvorah Simon
Discover through Self Relations Psychotherapy that depression or anxiety are often symptoms that are meant to awaken you to seriously reexamine your life and begin the process of living with renewed purpose.
The Confidence Gap: A Guide to Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt
Russ Harris
Don’t miss out on another opportunity because you’re shy, insecure or lack confidence. Rather than “getting over these fears” create a new and wiser relationship with them.
The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How.
Daniel Coyle
Learn the “secrets” to unlocking the maximum potential in yourself and others.
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman
Embark upon a fascinating journey through the mind-body connection and discover that aerobic exercise is truly our best defense against everything from depression to ADD to addiction to menopause to Alzheimer’s.
The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better
Sandra Blakeslee and Matthew Blakeslee
Just as road maps represent interconnections across the landscape, your many body maps represent all aspects of your bodily self. Learn how to tap into the power of body maps to do almost anything better.
Your Best Year Yet!: Ten Questions for Making the Next Twelve Months Your Most Successful Ever
Jinny S. Ditzler
Awaken your Can-Do attitude as you do the internal work first; thereby creating an environment that supports your transformation. Then the goals you choose will be sure to succeed!
It Starts With Food
Dallas & Melissa Hartwig
Change the way you eat forever—and transform your life in profound and unexpected ways, with a powerful 30-day nutritional reset. This Whole30® program has led to weight loss, enhanced quality of life, and a healthier relationship with food—accompanied by stunning improvements in sleep, energy levels, mood, and self-esteem. More significant, many people have reported the elimination of a variety of symptoms, diseases, and conditions in just 30 days.
Working with Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman
The secret of success is not what they taught you in school. What matters most is not IQ, not a business school degree, not even technical know-how or years of expertise. The single most important factor in job performance and advancement is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a set of skills that anyone can acquire, and this practical guide identifies them, explains their importance, and shows how you can nurture them.
Who Moved My Cheese? An A-Mazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
Spencer Johnson, M.D.
My ultimate favorite book! Change is inevitable and Dr. Johnson takes the fear and anxiety out of managing change by showing you that you have more control than you think when you examine your attitude toward change.
The Little Book of HYGGE: Danish Secrets to Happy Living
Meik Wiking
If you long for cozy comfort, this is the book for you. Learn about the Danish concept that encompasses a feeling of cozy contentment and well-being through enjoying the simple things in life.
The Miracle of Mindfulness
Thich Nhat Hanh
A classic guide to meditation that has introduced generations of readers to the life-changing beauty of mindful awareness. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh offers gentle anecdotes and practical exercise as a means of learning the skills of mindfulness.
A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative
Roger von Oech
Business people, educators, scientists, homemakers, artists, youth leaders, and more praise this book for stimulating creativity as you systematically break through your mental blocks and unlock your mind for creative thinking.
Spartan Fit Transform Your Mind. Transform Your Body. Commit to Grit.
Joe De Sena and John Durant
Modern Spartan races test overall conditioning: strength, flexibility, endurance, and speed. It’s a give it your all and more approach that helps you develop discipline, mental toughness and grit.
The Badass Life: 30 Amazing Days to a Lifetime of Great Habits–Body, Mind, and Spirit
Christmas Abbott
It takes 30 days to break a bad habit and create a good one. This book provides a daily challenge centered around a specific “action theme,” such as “Eliminate Excuses,” “Lean on Mentors,” and “Feel Sexy, Be Sexy.” Are you ready to become a badass?
5 AM Club, The: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life.
Robin Sharma
Based on the key insight that winning starts at the beginning of the day, Sharma shows how you can reduce stress, improve focus, unleash uncommon creativity, achieve exponential productivity and restore balance.
Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harnass Kindness to Speak Up, Claim their Power, and Thrive
Dr. Kristin Neff
Learn how to harness self-compassion and gain the strength, clarity and courage needed to be resilient and stand up for yourself in our male-dominated society. Become empowered to let go of self-criticism, draw boundaries and become fierce.
The Authenticity Principle: Resist Conformity, Embrace Differences, and Transform How You Live, Work, and Lead
Ritu Bhasin
In The Authenticity Principle, this award-winning leadership and diversity expert gives you the tools to choose to be who you really are—with yourself, in your relationships, and at work—despite the fear of judgment.
The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
Brené Brown
Through this self-help classic we find courage to overcome paralyzing fear and self-consciousness, strengthening our connection to the world and helping us to believe we are worthy of self-discovery, personal growth, and boundless love.
Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement
Rich Karlgaard
We actually enjoy multiple periods of blooming in our lives. Late bloomers enjoy hidden strengths because they take their time to discover their way in life – strengths coveted by many employers and partners – including curiosity, insight, compassion, resilience, and wisdom.
IMPOSSIBLE IS STUPID: 57 truths to help you beat loneliness and depression and live the fabulous life you always wanted.
Osayi Osar-Emokpae
This book will inspire, challenge, motivate and catapult you to another level. You’ll see your true self in the mirror, and challenge you to take the necessary steps to discover your true purpose.
Self-Help Books & Audio for Professionals:
How to Attain Business Excellence
The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal
Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
The authors, founders of and executives at LGE Performance Systems, an executive training program based on athletic coaching programs, offer a program aimed at stressed individuals who want to find more purpose in their work and ways to better handle their overburdened relationships.
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t
Jim Collins
By researching what makes some companies great while others never make the grade, Jim Collins has discovered the key determinants of greatness in nearly every area of management strategy and practice. Be prepared…“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”
WOLFPACK: How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power, and Change the Game
By Abby Wambach
Unleash your individual power, unite with your pack, and emerge victorious together. This is Abby Wambach’s (a two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA World Cup champion) powerful message to women. Learn how she helped transform her soccer teammates into one of the most successful, powerful and united Wolfpacks of all time. Then use her 8 rules for leadership to help you embody leadership in all aspects of your life.
Mastery
Robert Greene
This book debunks our culture’s many myths about genius and distills the wisdom of the ages to reveal the secret to greatness. With this seminal text as a guide, readers will learn how to unlock the passion within and become masters.
Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling
Michael Port
This bestselling business development guide reveals why self-promotion is a critical factor to success. It will enable you to adopt the right marketing perspective and provides the strategies and skills to get more clients and increase your profits.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Simon Sinek
People and organizations who are more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others and command greater loyalty all have one thing in common – they all started with their WHY…
Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t
Simon Sinek
Learn how to foster trust and cooperation in your business by examining the actions of great leaders who have created environments in which their people naturally work together to achieve remarkable things.
The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
W. Timothy Gallwey
The concepts in this book about overcoming self-doubt, nervousness, and lapses of concentration that keep a player from winning can easily be applied in all areas of life as you strive for excellence.
Embodied Leadership: The Somatic Approach to Developing Your Leadership
Pete Hamill
Embodied Leadership deconstructs our thinking about the body using key discoveries in neuroscience to demonstrate the uses and benefits of a somatic approach, particularity in the area of emotional intelligence and personal development.
Leading Women: 20 Influential Women Share Their Secrets to Leadership, Business, and Life
Nancy D. O’Reilly
Leading Women shows you how to claim power and respect, conquer your internal barriers, and change the world by helping other women do the same. Featuring stories from twenty nationally acclaimed female leaders, this empowering guide offers real-life advice for breaking free of the predetermined roles in the business world and life.